Everton v MFK RužomberokUEFA Europa League third round qualifier first legGoodison Park
8.05pm kick-off
TEAM NEWSWayne Rooney will make his first competitive start since rejoining Everton in Thursday night’s Europa League meeting with MFK Ružomberok, manager Ronald Koeman has confirmed.
The Blues boss could offer five further summer signings their Goodison bows on Thursday and, speaking at his pre-match press conference, said: “Wayne will start tomorrow. In what position I will not say but he will be in the team.
“I think it will be a warm welcome for Wayne coming back to his club but that’s also the same for the rest of the new players.
“Some of them will be included in the squad for tomorrow and we know the fans will support all the players and the team.”
The Toffees will, however, be without Ramiro Funes Mori [knee], Seamus Coleman [leg], Yannick Bolasie [knee] and Ross Barkley [groin].
FORMEverton head into the first leg having recorded a 2-1 win over Kenya’s Gor Mahia, a 3-0 victory against FC Twente and a 1-1 draw with Genk in pre-season friendlies.
Ružomberok, meanwhile, overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to record a 2-0 away victory over SK Brann, of Norway, and progress to this stage.
The Slovakians began their league campaign last weekend with a 2-1 defeat at Zlaté Moravce.
LAST TIME WE MET Well, the last time we met Slovakian opposition came when Howard Kendall’s Blues recorded a 1-0 away win over Inter Bratislava in the first leg of a European Winners’ Cup clash in October 1984.
Goals from from Adrian Heath, Graeme Sharp and Kevin Sheedy earned a 3-0 triumph in the return leg on Merseyside, as the Blues marched to European glory.
This will be our first meeting against Ružomberok.
KEY MANWe asked Lukáš Vráblik, a journalist for Slovakian newspaper Dennik N, for the lowdown on Thursday’s opponents.
When asked about the club’s key players, he said: “Ružomberok don’t have real leaders or stars, they rely more on a collective effort from all of the players. The biggest name in the squad is Marek Sapara, experienced 34-year-old playmaker, who was a big star when he played for Rosenborg. There were German clubs, like Schalke, interested in him back then, but he got one long injury and he never quite came back. He played 38 games for the Slovak national team, but when he was on his top form, former national team coach Vladimír Weiss did not give him a lot of opportunities. He helped the club to their title in 2006 and then left to move abroad, and now he has returned.
“Apart from him, the leading player was Czech striker Jakub Mareš, but he left during the summer to Slovan Bratislava.
“Another good player is young centre-back Dominik Kružliak. He played for a league select XI, too. However, I would not say there is anyone who is of Premier League standard.”
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